“I’m going to cry, man,” head coach Benji Nelson said. “This is how good this is.”

The win erased years of heartache.

In Desert Hills’ previous seven playoff appearances, the Thunder have lost in the first round twice, the quarterfinals four times and the semifinals once. Some have been agonizing defeats on penalty kicks, some have been blowouts, but they all meant Desert Hills went home without reaching its final goal.

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Desert Hills soccer plays against Dixie High School during the state semifinals Thursday, May 10, 2018.(Photo: Chris Caldwell / The Spectrum & Daily News)

This year is different. No matter what happens on Saturday, the 2018 Thunder has a claim to be considered the best team in program history. Sure they might not have the region crowns of past teams, but they could end up with a state one. And they will play on a stage that no Desert Hills team has before.

It may come as a surprise, though, that it was this Desert Hills squad that finally reached the title game.

“We all came in this year, we didn’t know how our team was going to look,” senior Kelton Holt said.

That was because Desert Hills was going to be relying on some young players to play key roles. The success of the season was going to be determined by whether or not those underclassmen were up to the challenge.

They were.

Sophomore Ben Simister leads the team in points with 17 goals and 11 assists heading into the state title game. While Hodges has seven shutouts on the season -- and those don't include his stellar semifinals performance in the win over Dixie. There was mystery a few months ago. Now, the Thunder just know they just have young stars.

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Desert Hills soccer plays against Dixie High School during the state semifinals Thursday, May 10, 2018.(Photo: Chris Caldwell / The Spectrum & Daily News)

And with seniors like Holt, Walker Heaton and Bridger Nelson surrounding them, it made it possible to make history.

“We’ve wanted this for awhile,” senior Kelton Holt said. “Benji really believed in us. … We worked really hard all through the year. We stuck it out and now we are here. One more game.”

That game is against Park City, the squad that defeated Region 9 champion Snow Canyon with a double-overtime goal in the state quarterfinals. The Miners beat Juan Diego 2-0 in the state semifinals — something the Thunder might actually be happy about. Juan Diego has beaten Desert Hills four times in the playoffs. But those losses are in the past.